Tony Group, operating multiple franchises across Hawaii and select mainland markets, unified sales, service, accounting, and BDC on Tekion's cloud-native platform. This consolidation eliminated paper-heavy workflows, reduced the number of third-party vendors by approximately two-thirds, and delivered significant efficiency improvements across all departments—from paperless operations to real-time F&I visibility.

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The Challenge—Why Legacy Systems Held Tony Group Back

Tony Group operates multiple franchises across Hawaii and the mainland. Until recently, they managed sales, service, accounting, and BDC across five separate vendor systems. That meant:

• End-of-day deposits took 45 minutes because cashiers had to reconcile data across platforms before anyone could go home manually.

• Month-end close required days of manual review across multiple systems before finance could reconcile.

• Service advisors worked on paper—writing ROs, printing documents, capturing signatures, filing paperwork, then returning to desk. One transaction meant multiple steps away from the customer.

• Lead tracking was a spreadsheet problem—no one could see in real time which sources were actually profitable or how fast leads were being contacted.

• Customer data was fractured—a service advisor couldn't see sales history. A finance manager couldn't see service records. Customers repeated information across departments.

• Vendor chaos—managing separate licensing, support teams, and integration headaches for payment processing, appointments, MPI, reporting, and accounting on top of the core DMS.

Tony Group knew this wasn't sustainable.

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Finding a Unified Platform

Tony Group was managing five disconnected systems. Finance couldn't see service revenue in real time. Sales couldn't see F&I performance. Service advisors still worked on paper. Leadership wanted control over their own data—not permission from a vendor.

Tekion's platform is built as one, AI-native unified system from day one.  

Most importantly, Tony Group now owns its data and decides which vendors access it—a level of control that's impossible on legacy systems.

"Tekion gives you full control of your data. You decide which vendors have access. With our previous system, we had to go through their third-party access system, which added rules, excess costs, and restrictions."

—Bryan Hsu, Director of Technology at Tony Group

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The Results—Operational Transformation and Cost Reduction

End-of-Day Deposits and Daily Operations

Cashiers now complete daily deposits in 10 minutes, down from 45. That's a 78% reduction in time. Real-time data synchronization across all departments eliminated the manual reconciliation bottleneck that forced staff to stay late every shift. The friction point that consumed nearly an hour per day disappeared.

Finance and Month-End Close

Finance teams used to spend days manually balancing data across systems before the month could close. Now they drill down from a financial statement to transaction details in seconds. Month-end reconciliation went from a week-long manual process to one that's accurate and verifiable before close.

"Month-end reporting for managers is simple because the system is intuitive. Month-end closing is much more efficient and much faster for us. Previously, we had to review daily to make sure things were balanced. Now I'm confident they're balanced, and it's simple at month-end to close the month."

—Gayle Tom, Chief Financial Officer at Tony Group

Service Operations Go Paperless

Service advisors stay on the drive. Digital workflows and remote signature capture eliminate the need for printing, filing, and desk returns. Transactions complete faster because advisors aren't leaving the customer to manage paperwork.

Service Batch Processing

Tony Group processes roughly 200 new-car PDIs per month. On legacy systems, technicians opened each repair order manually. Now: batch-open and batch-close all 200 at once. What took hours now takes minutes.

Lead Management and Real-Time CRM Intelligence

CRM eliminated manual lead tracking and spreadsheet dependency. Tony Group's teams now see exactly where each lead comes from, conversion rates by sales associate, and which sources are actually profitable. Lead follow-up accelerated and became more strategic.

"With Tekion ARC CRM, our leads team can move faster and follow up more efficiently. We're getting better engagement, more appointments that show, and more sales."

—Steve Alaimo, Director of Variable Operations at Tony Group

F&I Profitability and Real-Time Integration

Seamless sales-to-finance integration eliminated time lapse between deal booking and finance review. Real-time visibility into front- and back-PVR performance throughout the month enables better decision-making—not retroactive analysis at month-end.

“Tekion gives us a live, minute-by-minute view of front and back PVR. The moment a deal is booked, that money is accounted for, so I can see exactly how we're performing throughout the month."

—Jeb Sheppard, General Sales Manager at Tony Group

Vendor Consolidation and Cost Reduction

Tony Group previously maintained four separate add-ons on top of their core DMS: online payment processing, appointments, MPI, and reporting tools. Tekion handles all of this natively. Result: eliminated 50–67% of third-party vendor relationships and associated licensing costs.

"Tekion's platform and modern technology helped us eliminate many of the vendors we previously used. We probably cut our third-party add-ons by about half to two-thirds."

—Bryan Hsu, Director of Technology at Tony Group

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Why This Matters

Tony Group's experience reflects a broader reality: legacy systems fragment operations, multiply vendor relationships, and slow daily work. Yet many groups accept this as normal.

Tony Group proved it's not.

True unification delivers measurable ROI across multiple dimensions:

• Faster daily operations (78% faster deposits, 2–3-hour savings on CIT processing)

• Lower vendor costs (50–67% reduction in third-party add-ons)

• Better F&I profitability (15% PVR increase at some stores)

• Staff freed from manual work to focus on customer service and strategic tasks

If you're managing multiple vendors, spending time on manual month-end reconciliation, or watching service advisors leave the drive to complete paperwork, consolidation has proven valuable.

Request a demo of Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud—See how dealerships like Tony Group are consolidating operations, cutting costs, and building data-driven organizations.

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FAQs

Can Tekion really reduce end-of-day deposits from 45 minutes to 10 minutes?
Yes. Tony Group's cashiers now complete deposits in 10 minutes instead of 45. The real-time data synchronization across all departments eliminates the manual reconciliation that consumes time in fragmented systems.

How much can we save on third-party vendors?
Tony Group cut their third-party add-ons by approximately half to two-thirds. Where they previously needed four separate add-ons (online payment, appointments, MPI) on top of their core system, Tekion handles all of it natively, reducing vendor relationships and monthly costs significantly.

Does Tekion's CRM really provide real-time lead tracking?
Yes. Tony Group's teams now see exactly where each lead comes from, conversion rates by sales associate, and which lead sources are most efficient and profitable. Manual spreadsheet tracking was replaced with real-time intelligence.

Can service operations really go fully paperless?
Yes. Paperless workflows with digital signature capture keep service advisors on the drive. Transactions complete faster, and documents are instantly digitized and retrievable—no printing, filing, or hunting.